Monday, June 25, 2012

Stephen Harper's Absurd Attempt to Woo Quebec

OMG. Mothers hide your children. It appears that Stephen Harper has set out to try to woo Quebec.

Stephen Harper and more than a dozen of his cabinet ministers chose Quebec to kick off the Tories’ political “summer of love,” wooing support with their economic plan and a pledge to work with the Parti Québécois if it is elected to govern the province.

And what an absurd spectacle it was. Great UglyPretty Lover Leader and half his Con cabinet gathered in Saint-Narcisse-de-Beaurivage (population 1,000) mumbling sweet nothings to the separatists. While his flunkies played the fiddle.Conservative observer Tim Powers, a consultant with Summa Strategies, said that Tories want everyone to remember “why 40 per cent of Canadians succumbed to their charms last year.
“The wooing starts in Quebec today,” he said.

Even though most Quebecers didn't even know he was in the province, because they were too busy celebrating la Fête nationale. Media coverage was minimal.

And the only reason he was there was because some old and rich Conservatives, who still circle Brian Mulroney like a tiny moon circles the planet Uranus, are urging him to do something, ANYTHING, to try to improve his image.

“His image here is the pits. I’ve had francophones say to me publicly that they think he’s got ears and a tail, and he eats babies. And these are conservatives. They can’t understand why Harper doesn’t ﬁx his image. Everyone knows he doesn’t eat babies, but he does everything he can to make people think he does."

And he needs their money eh?

But of course nothing Harper and his Cons do will improve their fortunes in the province. Because no other Canadians hate them and everything they stand for more than Quebecers do.

The main reason they abandoned the Bloc and now support the NDP is because they know that only Tom Mulcair and his party can drive the Cons from power.

And the latest polls will only convince them that they are on the right track.

And make their support for the NDP even stronger...

As for the dreaded separatist threat, that Harper would dearly love to encourage so he can campaign against it, he can forget about that one as well eh?

The bourgeois Pauline Marois is as popular as Jean Charest. So even if the PQ wins the next election it can only hope for a minority government, and these days the sovereignty cause is going NOWHERE.

Because now it's an ideological struggle, one that Harper and his right-wing reactionaries can only lose.

Yup. The universe is unfolding just as I hoped it would. Great Ugly Leader can try to woo Quebecers as much as he wants. Oinky, boinky, honk.

But his desperate pleas will fall on deaf ears. Quebec is leading the way to a new and better Canada.

21 comments:

Thanks so much for this assessment, however jocular..Because I don't live in Quebec, I felt as if I had no right to comment on Emperor Steve's little visit to the ironically named Ste. Narcisse..so glad that you have done so, since when I read of it, I almost lost my lunch...to go to M(B)uloney, of all peoplwe and triy to suss out what it is that is happening in Quebec is laughable..he cannot wrap his tiny mind around the fact of NDP success there; personally, I always wondered why it took so long, since Quebec has been very progressive for a long time...And all of us are happy that the Bloc does not have a stronger foothold - my Canada will always include Quebec (not sure about Alberta, though)

hi mizdarlin...yes I thought Ste. Narcisse was an inspired choice. I looked it up on Google Earth, and its small, rural, and isolated. Just like the Cons in Quebec. However, it's also one of the last bastions of the Progressive Conservative brand,and Mulroney is one of them. It's like the Steam Engine Club just richer eh? As for the Bloc, as long as the NDP can make Quebecers believe that they can defeat the Cons, it's probably screwed. And for the same reasons so are the Quebec Liberals...

hi anonymous...I too wonder how people can support someone like Harper. But I do know how he won his deadly majority. Too many were fooled, and not enough voted. I can only hope for the sake of our country that we won't make that mistake again...

hi Lorne...I used to think "Je Me Souviens" was a little grim, and didn't have the charm or the joie de vivre of the one before: "La Belle Province." ;)But not anymore. I remember it is is, and don't worry we will...

I'm not that optimistic. Not as long as the Liberals and the NDP stubbornly don't realize that they will need each other to beat Harper. Forget the polls, they've proven unreliable to put it nicely, since the last federal election and pretty much cinched it with the last Alberta provincial election. Besides, Francois Legault of CAQ can teach Mulcair a thing or two about peaking too soon.

As for Harper wooing back Quebec--will never happen. However, there is a chance his party can win back seats they originally held in around the Quebec City area, which has always been right leaning. Here in Quebec, if the Cons under Harper got seats, it was (still is) the weird case where voters actually voted for the candidate and not for the leader, unlike most everywhere else. So, it'll all depend who will be selected for 2015 election.

As for Marois and the PQ winning next Provincial election. Don't bet on it. Although, I would prefer her over Charest and definitely over Francois Legault and CAQ at this time. She may be bourgeois, but I can count on one thing from her--she will never, ever cozy up to Harper. In fact, I can see her raising his blood pressure.

Oh and the reason why I believe the results of the next Quebec election will be a toss up? I will post further in detail at my place. The short of it is that unlike the old order of the classic Liberal v PQ with one or 2 smaller parties, sprinkled with some independents of all stripes, there are oh so many players this time around. New parties have formed. Another off-shoot of the PQ, Otion Nationale led by disaffected Pqueste, Jean-Martin Aussant, as well as an off-shoot of, get ready for it, The ADQ--those who were left behind if you will. Those not happy having had their party swallowed up by Legault and CAQ. they're known as Equipe-Autonomiste. Also, formed in 2009 from some old lingering Union Nationalistes, now led by former Harpercon MP of Louis-HEbert, Luc Harvey, with Dr. "private for profit" Chaoulli as advisor, I presesnt to you, The Conservative Party of Quebec. Of course, the Greens and Quebec Solidaire are still around, as are the other so-called "fringe parties".

I only wish Gilles Duceppe wasn't chased away. He would've been the only one who could've capitalized on any of Quebec's issues right now. He should be leading the PQ.

hi CK...I agree with most of what you say. Harper might be able to win back a couple of seats in the Quebec City area, especially if they become even more conservative because of the upheaval in the streets. Especially if he stuck his nose into Quebec politics and expressed support for Jean Charest's law and order position. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Harper discussed that with Charest at his secret meeting.I also wouldn't bet on Marois winning the next election since that will depend on whether the CAQ goes anywhere. And if so who will it steal more votes from, the PQ or the Liberals.The only thing I don't agree with you is the NDP trend. I think it's solid enough to make most Quebecers see them as the only ones capable of beating the Cons. And as long as they feel that way, they won't abandom them, which as I've pointed out before, is bad news for the Bloc and the Liberals...

hi Oemissions... yes I agree. When a Prime Minister and half his cabinet feel they must spend the day in Ste Narcisse they are indeed desperate. I understand the need for an isolated rural retreat to avoid any unpleasantness, but still...The only thing I am dying to know is did they travel to the village in a fleet of limos, or did they all squeeze into Bev Oda's stretch version? ;)

These are complex and thorny issues. Though I suspect that in secret most Cons are hoping for Quebec to actually separate and thereby increase the percentage overall of Con voters. At the very least they are hoping for a separatist resurgence so Harper can portray himself as the white knight.

Though I must say that I am curious about the epithet "bourgeois" being applied to Pauline Marois. Why that particular label? I am all up for reclaiming the word which has fallen into misuse, but why in particular here?

hi kirbycairo...I suspect Harper is hoping for a separatist revival, so he can campaign against the province, and accuse the NDP of being separatists.Because you're right if Quebec did separate Canada would be a more conservative place, just like what would happen if Scotland left Britain. I also suspect that Harper is weighing whether to step into the popular upheaval in the province, and capitalize on the polarization that upheaval is causing.As for calling Marois a bourgeois...let's just say that when she put her house on a large estate up for sale recently she asked for EIGHT million bucks. And her haughty aristocratic demeanor reflects her lavish lifestyle. She also removed the red square from her bosom and the PQ website the other day after posing as a supporter for a while. So she may have some hidden qualities but she's no revolutionary... :)

hi kirby... yes it's a very depressing situation. A lot of people want to get rid of Charest and his Liberals, but are not at all enthusiastic about replacing him with Marois' extremely uninspiring PQ. That party used to be much more progressive, but years in power have corrupted them as well. And to make matters worse the leader of the third party CAQ, is also a millionaire. So much upheaval, but so few choices....

stevie slime's sudden interest in Quebec is a joke. The Quebecers will not be fooled by him.

Stevie & the slimers have done a lot of damage to Canada by eroding our rights as Canadian citizens. We have Vic wanting to know everything & watch everyone. We just had the lovely "budget" pass along with all those things which didn't have to do with the budget. Stevie is cutting funding right left & centre. He wants to force people to leave their homes to take jobs elsewhere???? This will go over in Quebec like a lead ballong. Why should they leave their province with their language & culture just because Jimmy thinks they can get a min. wage job in another province. Then there is the small matter of changing the CPP age, right Quebecers will warm to that right off.

If stevie slime continues with his quest to destroy our Canadian way of life it won't just be Quebec who wants to leave. We will all want to leave just to get away from Stevie & his moronic ideas, like selling our country to china. The slimer's fiscal policies have given Canada the dutch disease which not only has had an impact on Ontario manufacturing but Quebec's.

Stevie slime seems to like China & how it does business perhaps he can save allof us a lot of problems & go there. Quebec doesn't need him nor does the rest of the country.

hi e.a.f....don't worry there is absolutely no chance that Harper will fool Quebecers. He is offside on everything from the environment,to the gun registry, to his economic policies. He has only five seats, and if an election was held tomorrow he could conceivably lose them all.He will of course try to inflame nationalistic sentiment in Quebec, in order to build up the Bloc and split the vote. But that one won't work either, because right now Quebecers would much rather save Canada from the Cons, than create their own country. They are leading the way and the rest of Canada must follow them...

Q: Why is everything Stevie two-tangled web weaver of sinister deceit and operations have to be done in SECRET?

A: Like any good vampire he will wilt in the light of day!

He has also lost BC to the NDP and it was a huge round of dismissal that Albertan people enmasse actually shunned Steve and his deceitful Professor Tom Flanagan's, new darlings the traitor's wild HOSE party, which were a bunch of homophobic oil drinking cheerleaders for harper cons-?

Stevie is running out of darkness, the light is gonna melt his ass>soon.

hi Mogs...I've always thought of Harper's political demise as the scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy throws a bucket of water at the Wicked Witch, and she melts. But now that you mention it, the sight of a vampire Harper crumbling to dust after being hit by a beam of sunshine might be even more dramatic, and even more enjoyable... ;)